Letters
Letters written and received in the story. Heather's letter to Votig Votig, I’m writing to you because I know I can trust you with this story. You’re a good man with a fine eye for craftsmanship if I do say so myself… and your deeds that night in Saloria make you a worthy wearer of that belt. Please read this and try not to judge me too harshly… My sister, Elise, is twelve years my junior. Our parents died when she was four years old to a fever that was going through Saloria at the time. I did my best to provide for her and keep her happy and safe, and I think I did a good job of that. I could not, however, always keep her healthy. The year after our parents died, the sickness that had claimed them returned. This time, it afflicted Elise. My sister was only five years old, and grew increasingly frail and weak. I was certain she wouldn’t last the week. I spent my days speaking to every healer and priest I could, with increasing desperation. No one could help. I fell asleep one night, exhausted beyond anything I’d ever felt before. That night I had a series of dreams, each more bizarre than the last. One image returned over and over: my sister, drinking from the wellspring in the forest. My sister, returned to me in health. My sister, alive. In the middle of the night, the madness gripped me. I knew it was dangerous. I knew the wellspring, if the myths were true would kill me. But she was dead anyway. At least she wouldn’t suffer if it failed. I rationalized what I was about to do over and over again. I believe I was insane. I’m not proud of it, Votig. I struggled my way through the Bramble, Elise on my back. Hours in, we miraculously avoided the monsters that roam the woods. Something called to me that night. I’m not sure how I found it, but I did. In the middle of a clearing stood the fountain that would save my dear sister… or free her. I trembled as I lowered a metal cup to the water, careful not to touch the aether myself. I kissed my sister on the forehead, told her I loved her, and tipped it into her mouth. She disappeared. I don’t know how. She vanished. I screamed and cried in agony. I don’t know if you know what it feels like to lose your family, but all of mine, here, was gone. I nearly threw myself into the aether myself. Right when I was about to, she appeared. My sister, Elise, reappeared. She was whole and healthy and floating down from the sky, glowing in a beautiful purple. It was the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I cried again, for different reasons. I have never told her this. She forgot about the night entirely; I don’t know if it was too much for her at such a young age but she has no recollection of the night her big sister gambled her life, of the night her last remaining family almost killed herself. I’ve never been able to tell her. How do you tell someone you love that they did… Votig, what even is that? I’ve never known. But sometimes I see traces of it coming out again. A glimmer of purple. Her head in the clouds, like she’s looking at something the rest of us can’t see. Whatever saved her life, it never left her. You and your friends are the strongest people I’ve ever met. You fought off the monsters from the Bramble when no one else could. You can do things that no one else can… except maybe Elise. Maybe. Watch over her, Votig. For me. I know she’ll be strong enough to travel with you. I know she’s destined for more than healing in a quiet little hamlet like Saloria. She needs to see the world to learn about whatever happened to her. And she’ll help you. I know it. The next leatherwork’s on me. -Heather Oren's letters at the Motel Elise Elise, Can you read? If not, I'll teach you if you like. If you can, read on. I'm sorry that we discussed leaving you, and that you overheard it. However I hope you understand it was in order to protect you. We never intended to leave you in the wilderness. You seem to think we wish you weren't here and to be honest you're right. I wish you were safe in Ushad with your sister and that none of this had ever happened to you. But you are here and I have no intention of letting any harm come to you. We're all going back to Iquai as soon as your curse is lifted. In the mean time it's important for you to think about how you want us to treat you. You protest when you're treated like a child but then you seem to act like one. If you want us to forgive all of your misdeeds(such as running away from us, and drinking my blood while I was unconscious) and be unconditionally patient with you we can do that but it's important that you listen to us and be respectful. If you want us to treat you like an adult then you might want to reconsider your behavior. You must take responsibility for your actions and stop blaming other people for your misfortunes. We all have our own troubles and it's not fair for you to burden us with yours and then expect us to treat you as an equal. It's up to you which you want to be but you need to learn that being an adult is more than your age. -Oren P.S. Please stop being cruel to Minerva. She cares for you and it's unfair for you to use her guilt against her. If you can't be kind to my friend, then we can't be friends when this is over. If you want me to feed you my blood you can at least pretend to forgive her, especially since what happened is not her fault. Minerva Minerva, Do you remember when we were in Fallowfield and Prilla was giving us those orbs? I was reading a book. A book about removing curses, as it happens. It occurs to me that my knowledge might be of use to you, even if I'll never be able to use it to help Votig. I don't know if we can remove your vampire curse entirely but we can try to reduce the symptoms. So I've come up with three options. The book said that one way to remove a curse involved using reagents that represent it in some way before performing a sort of ritual. In Votig's case I was going to use plants and dirt, but for you perhaps blood would be appropriate. I don't know if it'll work, and I've never done it before, and I doubt you want to have my blood smeared on your face so we'll call this 'Option 3.' Option 2 relates to something I said yesterday. Do you remember, I told you to jump into a fire? Well I was joking then but I thought about it and realised how the water affected me. It's very likely that practicing your abilities will help you as it might increase the aether inside your body. If you sit in front of a fire and relax and commune with it in some way you might feel better. Even if it doesn't have a magical effect, it's probably going to make you feel better to spend a night relaxing in front of a hearth without worrying about all of our problems. By now you're probably exited to hear about option 1. When I spoke to your Noctyr friend she told me about lotus flowers. This will make sense, keep reading. She said the flowers only grow in a pool of water in a magical cave where I believe the wellspring resides. These aren't ordinary lotus flowers like we have in Iquai, these are blood lotuses. They're magical and can't grow in ordinary water. A shopkeeper told me they only grow in the purest water, she implied this water was unobtainable. But of course it does exist, beside the wellspring. I believe this is due to aether in the water. And I thought if the flowers can absorb the aether, perhaps your body can too. Blood lotuses only grow in pure water, but I grew one back in Iquai. The water was ordinary, so why did it work? Well I think that I must have purified it somehow. Water is supposed to be my element, after all. So the plan is to fill a bath and let me purify the water, then you can get in and let the aether fill your body. It won't be as strong as the real wellspring but it might satiate your hunger for a while. You said to make it more interesting the next time I asked you to take off your clothes, I hope I've succeeded. We can try any or all of these plans and see what happens if you like. I'll do anything I can to help you. I'm sorry for everything I did that led you to this. I promise everything will be ok once we get back home, I'll do anything you ask to make you happier and to make the world a better place. -Oren P.S. Please don't show this to Elise until we know it works, she won't handle disappointment well. Eliam Eliam, These things were abandoned by their owners, and I thought they might be useful to you. I know this won't replace the lute you had but I'm sure when we get back to Iquai we can find a better one. In the meantime you can keep learning to play and practice. I hope you're safe, and that Gwendolyn is as nice as she seems. If you are reading this I guess you're alright. I'm drunk right now, so don't let the vampires drink my blood until morning. -Oren Gwendolyn Miss Gwendolyn, I'm sorry we didn't get to know each other much today but I'm sure we'll have plenty of time in the next few weeks during our journey North. You seem like a good person and Eliam vouched for you. I'd like to say he's a good judge of character, but he is disposed to like everyone he meets so it's difficult to tell. Please be patient with Minerva and Elise. They really are good people, but they are distressed due to everything that has happened to them. Please try to be sympathetic, I know they make it difficult. When we get to the wellspring, don't touch the aether. It will kill you. It might be best if you wait outside, perhaps with Elise, while we find out if Minerva can be cured. That way if something goes wrong we can handle it without her getting in the way. If it works then we can cure Elise as well and find a way home. Don't lose Votig's orb. I'm very sorry about what happened to Prilla and the rest of the priests. They were all very kind to us. We've all just lost somebody important too so we can definitely relate. Every time I try to plan ahead I remember he won't be there and I feel sick. So I don't really know how to help, but you have my condolences. -Oren Oren's letter for Minerva The envelope Minerva, Read this tonight when you're alone. In contains an important question, and I can't bring myself to discuss it in person. I'll see you soon. -Oren The letter Minerva, Eliam has suggested that you might be pretending to like me for some other purpose, presumably to enlist my aid in your quest to eradicate the Orcs. While I hope this isn't the case it does seem more likely than the alternative. I suppose it's not impossible that I could secure your affections on my own, so it's hard to decide what's really going on. The last thing I want is for you to regret anything that happens between us. I'd rather hear that you aren't interested in me now than have you resent me later. Obviously I would be useful in achieving this goal, but you don't need to manipulate me into helping you. I would die for you, regardless of any romantic attachment between us. I'll be your friend, your lover, or your husband, whatever you like. What matters is that you're happy. Every Orc in Iquai will be dead, if that's what you wish, and a new government of your choosing put in place of the Elyde. All you have to do is ask and I'll help you. You don't have to trick me, because I'm already willing. You're probably wondering why I would think you could be so dishonest. Please remember- you lied to me directly about being a vampire, you offered to seduce several men to get them to do what you want, and the first thing you ever did to me was lure me into killing Orcs for you. Hopefully you understand why this idea seems plausible. I'm really not trying to accuse you of anything, I'm just explaining my concerns in the hopes of preventing you from doing something you don't really want to do. I hope you really do like me, but if not please don't pretend you do. If I'm completely wrong about all of this then you're probably furious with me right now, however it's important that you know how I feel about it. I can't explain everything but I hope you understand I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to be tricked by you. It would be very easy for you to manipulate me. I'll be back within a week month? Gwen said to take you on a date, but I'm not sure exactly what that means. I'll think of something before I get back. Unless you don't want to. Eliam said to say goodbye, but I really just want to leave you this note and go without seeing you. Gwen has gone to Fallowfield, and Eliam is coming with me to the tower near Westbridge. I hope it goes well. Soon we'll all be reunited. Where I'm from people who were in love would say "Tá mo chroí istigh ionat." It means something like "my heart is with you." That's how I feel. It's our destiny to be together. Not just us, but Eliam and Elise too. The Maker wants us all to be together, so I know that even if you are angry now you'll forgive me eventually. -Oren Minerva's letter to Oren Oren, You're not wrong. Sorry. You're wrong now. You weren't before. This is my tenth draft of this letter. That was the clearest opening I wrote. I'm not rewriting it again. When we traveled together, for the first few weeks, I didn't know what to make of you. I thought you were cruel sometimes, like how you wanted to leave Elise behind somewhere. But then I learned you were really just pragmatic, and were thinking about her in your own way. I thought you were reckless, like our plan at Asle Lenor, but then I realized I participated in that plan as much as you did. I thought you were a friend. A powerful friend who could help my aims as head of the Lyriad. But then I realized how shallow that was. You went out of your way to do things for me. You helped save me from the painting trap. You made me food I hadn't tasted since childhood out of the kindness of your heart to cheer me up. You care about me, and I care about you. I had hoped to be here when you returned, but circumstances have changed. I know you remember that we saw my father in Fallowfield before we left to Thirshalon. Reports from travelers on the western roads are suggesting that some... undead beings are beginning to appear in Saloria. Whether that's a natural consequence of what we caused, or Hiram is still around and his rogue Lyriad chapter is doing... something unnatural, I have to find out. I've left for Saloria to try to sort out details. I'm going alone, but don't worry. I'm used to flying solo and sneaking around. I'll be back before you know it. I hope you found what you were looking for while you were gone. I'm looking forward to seeing you again. You'll be alone for a while; Gwen took Elise with her to Fallowfield. Keep an eye on things for me, would you? Yours, Minerva PS Tá mo chroí istigh ionat. Eliam's Letters from Westbridge Letter to Heather Miss Heather Raynor, I hope this letter finds you well. I apologize for my sudden absence from Ushad, but as I hope Elise has informed you, I have been drawn away for vital business. Still, I look forward to seeing you again upon my return. Furthermore, I hope all is well for you and Elise. If nothing else, I am happy she's able to spend so much time with you again. She missed you quite a bit during our travels, news of which I hope she has become more willing to share. If it is not too much trouble, I come to you with a request. For reasons that should be apparent, I am unable to send letters directly to my companions, and yours is one of the only addresses in the area I am familiar with. I would be eternally grateful if you could please give the following letters to Elise, to be delivered to those they are addressed to. Though I would be delighted to receive news from you as well, I hope you understand I am unable to provide an address due to traveling. I expect to be back soon, however, and greatly look forward to hearing from you then. Until then, I wish you only the best. Fond regards, Eliam Westmonte Letter to Minerva Minerva, I hope that all is going well within Ushad. I apologize for Oren's swift absence; I believe he was overexcited to see his home again. Still, he speaks of you often, and misses you terribly. I know you prefer to focus on the task at hand. On that note, you'll be happy to learn of our success in Westbridge. We met with Oren's master, who seemed (almost strangely) knowledgeable of both our condition and our current problem. His behavior towards Oren was alarming, and has left me wary of placing my full faith in him, but Oren assures me we can trust him. I believe him somewhat biased on the matter, but the knowledge the man holds and the knowledge to be found within the books here are unmistakably useful. Oren's master has requested that you, Elise, and Lady Gwendolyn join us in Westbridge, for reasons I would prefer to discuss in person. I would advise you to act with caution, however, and not only for the reasons outlined above. Oren and I may stop at some of the nearby towns soon before returning to you all, and given the uncertain nature of our plans, I believe it would be better for us to reconvene in Ushad and discuss the matter there. I expect we will be back fairly soon; our plans shouldn't take long. On a lighter note, I do hope you can come to Westbridge in the future, if only to see the tower. Oren's descriptions of it sounded unbelievable, but it turns out almost nothing was exaggerated! He has a table that can conjure food and wine from thin air, and windows that are enchanted to always let in sunlight, even at night. It's truly incredible, and certainly worth a visit at least once. Best regards, Eliam Westmonte Letter to Elise Elise, I hope you have been well, and are enjoying your time back home with your family. I apologize for our last encounter. I am unsure I can satisfactorily explain my actions, but I will endeavor to take more care in the future. I hope that by the time this letter reaches you, you will have forgiven me. I understand that in the past, we have not necessarily been close. To be honest I believe it is only somewhat recently that you have come to trust us and think of us as friends, after what happened during our travels. I want to assure you I do value that trust. As I hope Minerva has informed you, Oren and I have traveled to Westbridge to request aid from his master. We plan to visit some of the nearby towns while we're already in the Northeast, but we expect to be back soon. I hope that one day, you will be able to visit. Oren's stories of his home sounded fantastical, but I can assure you they were somehow true. We ate dinner at a table that magically conjured food and wine enough for a feast, and the windows are enchanted to let in sunlight at all hours of the day! I think perhaps you would dislike these, though, as they let in only light, with no view of the sky or grounds below. Though I fear you may find this impertinent, I hope you will consider speaking more openly with Heather. If you fear we will be upset with you for telling her too much, I promise you that will not be the case. While speaking with her, she gave the impression she wishes nothing more for you than your safety and happiness. I was careful to not reveal to her your secrets; they are yours, and I am sure you have your reasons for keeping them. But as I have recently been forced to remember, family is precious. We do not know what lies ahead. Though I remain optimistic about our success in fixing our current problem, I believe it best to plan for every outcome in this situation, no matter how unlikely. Best regards, Eliam Westmonte Letter to Gwen Lady Gwendolyn Oberle, I hope this letter finds you in good health. I fear that upon reading further, you will throw this letter into the nearest fire and think no more of it. I could not blame you for such an action, but I call upon any goodwill you could spare to read to the end, as it may prove important for the future and survival of Iquai. I will not attempt to defend my actions. I think, perhaps, you believed me better than I truly am. Unfortunately, I have come to find that I am ill prepared to understand how to be truly a good person, but I have decided to endeavor to improve myself. I do not expect this to change things between us; rather, I hope you will take it as a sign of good faith, since otherwise what I am about to suggest may be too distasteful to you to even consider. It bears saying though, Lady Gwendolyn, that I apologize for hurting you. I would implore you to stay with us and continue to lend us your aid. If not for me, then for the others, and for Iquai. At this point, I believe we have come to rely on you, and our chances of success in the trials to come will be much lessened without you. I do not expect us to be friends during this time. In fact, I do not expect you to even speak to me again. I can give you my word that I will not disturb you while you are with us, unless you wish to speak to me. I send this letter with urgency because of what Oren's master has recently told us. I would prefer to speak of it in person, or rather, I believe the others can explain to you the situation. But it is becoming clear that if we are to overcome our current problem, we will require your aid specifically to help save this world. I will not defend my actions, but if you choose to read further, I will attempt to explain them. As you have no doubt realized, I am ill disposed to lead people in any fashion. I suffer no delusion that without this I have anything to offer you. Despite my gifts, it seems unlikely I could raise my fortunes enough to provide to you the life you are accustomed, in a way that would not do more harm to this world than good. If you are truly with child, I promise I will offer you whatever support I can, but I fear what I offer is meager. If you wish it, this will be the last contact we have with each other. I will respect whatever decision you make on the matter. But I hope you will consider that the others need you, and Iquai needs you. I do not expect you to lend your aid for me. Instead, I ask you to lend your aid for the others, who I believe you have come to consider friends and allies; and for this country, which I know you care deeply for above all else. With sincere regret, Eliam Westmonte Abigail's coded letter to Gwendolyn When Gwendolyn visited Fallowfield she found a letter from Abigail, partially written in Sliabh, the language spoken by some people living in the Eastern Mountains. ''Oren helped her translate it-'' He translates, "Gwen, it's important that you kno-" but suddenly his eyes lose focus, or the letters themselves change? Something... is weird. ''But then, due to her meddling, Gwen's letter changed-'' The letter reads: "Abagail, excellent work. Your next mission will take you north. Beware the Oberles. Their role in this is still unknown. -- Holy Seat Genevere." ''After fixing the timeline, Gwen had Oren translate the letter again-'' Gwen, I'm sorry to be so secretive. Prilla is very strict about some things. I think she's fallen in love with the idea of you, as a knight, undertaking a quest. She finds it a singularly romantic notion. I can't say she's alone. Prilla has been studying the Children and the Maker forever. It's been her life's dream, but she's worried, what with the dark tidings spreading across the land, that the Maker's influence is waning. She can't come out and say it, obviously, but she's worried... Worried that an equivalent force to the Maker will rise and undo Her work. The reports of a wellspring's destruction in the far west support her fears, as do the whispers of something far darker... The Seats have passed down the stories of a Destroyer through the generations, orally, from Seat to Seat. Tales of it have never been written down for fear of the panic it could cause. While the Maker holds dominion over all creation, the Destroyer holds power over all that which is ruined. Should the dead walk again -- and it is rumoured in faintest whispers that they are -- it may be taken as a harbinger than the Destroyer is returned. We have but one name to go by: the Tolnuk. Our sources tell us they are a faction within the Elyde that blur the veil between life and death. They ostensibly claim to progress their cause in the name of the Maker, but Prilla knows the truth. It is the Destroyer's handiwork, nothing more. Beware, should you meet them. I am uncertain how to fight that which is already dead. If you get this letter, it means none of us were here to explain it to you in person. I'm sorry for that. I hope that our decisions were brave, and good, and that we did the Maker -- and you -- proud. I hope everyone will see our actions for what they are: a declaration of our love for the Maker... and proof of mine for you. Be well, Gwen. Don't blame yourself. We believe in you. Most sincerely, and with love, Abagail